Parking system



Jan. 26, 1954 Filed Dec. '7, 1949 V. A. RIGAUMONT PARKING SYSTEM 2 Sheets-Sheet l lwq VICTOR A.RIGAUMONT Jan. 26, 1954 v RlGAUMONT 2,666,961

' PARKING SYSTEM Filed Dec. 7, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR VICTOR A. RIGAUMONT a. 2;, Ml

Patented Jan. 26, 1954 UNITED "STATE S PATENT OFFICE PARKING SYSTEM Victor A. Rigaumont, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application December '7, 1949, Serial No. 131,678

Claims.

This invention relates to a parking system, particularly where a garage is located in a building which is separated from an adjacent street by an intermediate parallel sidewalk.

Vehicles are customarily parked along a street or else are driven over an adjacent sidewalk into a garage located beyond the sidewalk. The first of these arrangements impedes vehicular 'trailic in a busy street and the other interferes with pedestrian trail-1c along the sidewalk between the street and the adjacent garage.

The parking system of my invention avoids these difficulties by insetting the sidewalk and in the space thus vacated providing ramps which are out of the line of traffic along the full width of the street and which serve as entrances and exits for a garage in a building adjacent the inset sidewalk. The ramps permit access to the garage without interference with traflic along the sidewalk, and consequently the street, the sidewalk and the garage can all be used simultaneously without any mutual interference. This system is applicable to a single pair of inlet or outlet ramps connected to a single garage port and also to a series of separate inlet and outlet ramps connected to a corresponding number of separate inlet and outlet garage ports. The loss of space in the building caused by insetting the sidewalk is not great and is more than offset by the advantages obtained thereby; The building may overhang the inset sidewalkto protect it from the weather and to avoid loss of building space and the ramps are readily arranged to leave a clear space for an unobstructed drive-in loading entrance for the building at street level.

Further novelfeatures and advantages of the parking system of my invention will become apparent from the detailed description and in the accompanying drawings. I have shown in the drawings, for purposes of illustration only, the following preferred embodiments of my invention, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a building block and street with the ramps and inset sidewalk of my invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a modification of the ramp system illustrated in Figure 1';

Figure 3 is a top elevation of the arrangement shown in Figure 1; I

Figure 4 is a top elevation of the modified arrangement shown in Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a front sectional elevation taken along the line VV in Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is a front sectional elevation taken along the line VI--VI in Figure 4.

Referring in detail to the drawings and to the parking system illustrated in Figures 1, 3 and 5 particularly, there is provided a building block it which may consist r a single building unit or a series of building units and which is provided with a sidewalk H extending around it. A street 12 extends adjacent and parallel to one side it of the building block it. In accordance with conventional 'traffic arrangements in the United States the column or" vehicular traffic proceeding along the street 12 nearest the side 13 of the building park advances to the left as shown in Figure l and the column of vehicular traffic proceeding in the opposite dimotion is on the side of the street away from the side i3.

A garage i4 is located in the basement of the building it with its vehicle inlet and outlet port it located immediately below the main street level entrance is of the building block it. The port 45 is connected to the street E? by an inlet ramp l1 and an oppositely sloping outlet ramp it. The sidewalk l I is set into the building blockin adjacent the ramps ll and 13 so that the inner edges of the ramps are in the plane of the side l3 of building block and the outer edges of the ramps are in line with the corners or thesidewalk it on the street l2 (Figure '3). Protective railings is and as for the respective ramps ii and it are spaced apart opposite the entrance is and in the space between the railings the street l2 has a side extension providing drive-in space for vehicles loading and unloading at the entrance IS. The building block 'ifloverhangs the inset portions of the sidewalk H along the sides of the ramps H and i8 and in front of the entrance it.

It is apparent from inspection of Figure .1 that vehicles on the street 12 passing to the left as shown in Figure 1 may readily turn off the street and proceed down the ramp ii into the garage It through its ports 5 5, and that vehicles emer ing from the garage It through the port l5 may come up the ramp i8 and reenter the street l2 without appreciable interference with vehicular traffic along the street 12. Vehicles may likewise use the drivein opposite the main building entrance it conveniently and without appreciable trafiic interference. At the same time, pedestrian traffic is free to proceed along th sidewalk H without any interference with the vehicles passing to and from the garage l4 and the drive-in opposite the entrance It. The inset of the sidewalk ll adjacent the ramps l1 and I8 has little effect on the length of the sidewalk H or on the space in the building, and has the advantage not only of avoiding vehicle using the garage but also of bringing the sidewalk beneath the overhang of the building so that it is protected from the Weather. This weather protection is especially advantageous in front of the main building entrance l6, where vehicles using the drive-in space are loaded and unloaded.

A modified embodiment of the parking system of my invention is illustrated in Figures 2, 4 and 6, which show a building block 2| having one side 22 extending along a street 23 and a sidewalk 24 extending between the building block 2| and the street 23. A basement garage in the building block 2| is provided with oppositely sloping inlet and outlet ramps 25 and 26 with.

a pair of protective railings 21 and 28 extending parallel the sides of the ramps. Both the build ing 22 and the sidewalk 24 are inset along their whole length on the street 23 so that vehicles approaching the inlet ramp 25 may halt without holding up adjacent traffic and so that vehicles coming onto the street 23 from the outlet ramp 2% may proceed toward the next cross street and turn right on it without being held up by or interfering with the regular trafiic along the street 23. The omission of the drive-in entrance for the building block 2| between the ramps 25 and 26 at street level makes it possible to draw the ramps 25 and 26 close together where this is desirable in view of space limitations.

Although I have illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be recognized that changes in the details and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In the combination of a structure with a garage therein, a street along one side of the structure, and a sidewalk extending between the street and structure at substantially street level, means for connecting the garage to the street for passage of vehicles therebetween without interference with pedestrian trafiic along the sidewalk, said means comprising a ramp having an end portion opening into the garage at a level spaced vertically below the sidewalk and crossing the sidewalk without intersecting it, a sloping intermediate portion extending to street level between the sidewalk and street, and an end portion opening into the street.

2. In the combination of a structure with a garage therein, a street along one side of the structure, and a sidewalk extending between the street and structure at substantially street level, means for connecting the garage to the street for passage of vehicles therebetween without interference with pedestrian trafiic along the sidewalk, said means comprising vehicle passage means opening into the garage at a level spaced vertically below the sidewalk, crossing the sidewalk without intersecting it, and including a ramp sloping to street level between the sidewalk and street and opening into the street in a direction parallel to the street.

3. In the combination of a street for vehicular traffic, a structure having a garage therein and having one side extending parallel to and adjacent to the street, and a sidewalk extending between said one side of the structure and the street, means for connecting the garage to the street for passage of vehicles therebetween without interference with pedestrian traffic along the sidewalk or vehicular traffic along the street, said connecting means comprising vehicle passage means connected to the garage and extending across the sidewalk at a level spaced vertically from the level of the sidewalk, and ramps connecting said vehicle passage means to the street, said ramps sloping in opposite directions to the street level between the sidewalk and the street and opening into the street parallel to the direction of the street without intersecting the sidewalk, the portions of the sidewalk and structure adjacent the ramps being set back from the street by a distance substantially equal to the width of said ramps, thereby making room for the ramps out of the line of through trafiic along the street.

4. In the combination of a building with a garage therein, a street along one side of the building above the garage level, and a sidewalk extending between the street and building at substantially street level, entrance means for the building including a pair of ramps each having a lower portion opening into the garage and crossing the sidewalk therebeneath, a sloping intermediate portion extending to street level between the sidewalk and street, and an upper portion opening into the street, said ramps sloping downwardly toward each other, said building having a portion overhanging the part of the sidewalk between the upper ends of the ramps and having a street-level entrance opening into the middle of said part of the sidewalk, and said street having a side-extension to the sidewalk at said entrance.

5. In the combination of a street for vehicular trafiic, a building having a garage therein and having one side extending parallel to and adjacent to the street, and a sidewalk extending between said one side of the building and the street, vehicle passage means connected to the garage and extending across the sidewalk below the level of the sidewalk, and ramps connecting said vehicle passage means to the street, said ramps sloping in opposite directions to the street level between the sidewalk and the street and opening into the street parallel to the direction of the street without intersecting the sidewalk, an entrance to the building generally over the portion of said vehicle passage beneath the sidewalk, and a side extension of the street to the portion of the sidewalk adjacent said entrance, whereby vehicles can pass out of the line of traffic along the street to stop before said entrance.

VICTOR A. RIGAUMONT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 509,885 Faust, Jr Dec. 5, 1893 1,392,610 Warren Oct. 4, 1921 1,515,251 Graves Nov. 11, 1924 1,543,080 Graves June 23, 1925 OTHER REFERENCES Printed publication. The Chicago Daily News, November 21, 1929. The page number is not given but a drawing under the heading Would Erect Superhighway over Alleys" is relied on. 

